Peppermint Honey
by Henrietta 'Scarlet' Saintclair
Summary: Your life sucks when: 1. You fall in love with your male teacher; 2. Said teacher believes you are the reincarnation of his fiancée from another world--where said teacher was a Maou, by the way ; 3. You are a male.
1. The Beginning of the Flavours

**_Peppermint Honey_**

**Author's Notes:**

**This is just a side entertainment while I am struggling with 'Secondhand'. I hope you'll enjoy it, because I personally enjoy writing it.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own KKM!**

XXX

_Summary:_

_Your life sucks when: 1) you fall in love with your male teacher; 2) said teacher believes you are the reincarnation of his fiancée from another world; 3) you are a male._

XXX

-1-

_The Beginning of the Flavours_

**London, Present Time, Monday**

**Lockwood House, 13 Gloucester Road South Kensington**

The alarm clock rang right at seven a.m., as was its habit every morning. In an action cultured through habit also, Wolfram Bell opened his eyes, rubbed them, and dropped his palm over the alarm clock, groping for the alarm button and finding it after two seconds of groping. He sat up on his bed, gave another yawn, and stood up.

In the bathroom, Wolfram brushed his teeth, trying to count how many times he brushed them, yet losing count after the nineteen. He cursed, took off his pajamas, and entered the shower, where he kept himself in for fifteen minutes straight. As usual, he used too much shampoo for his hair again, and he got out of the shower cursing how shampoos were supposed to be made to not irritate eyes.

He dressed quickly, taking only four minutes and three seconds to put on his school uniform, which consisted of a deep green blazer, a matching tie, a crisp white shirt, and a pair of black trousers. Once he finished dressing, he took a glance on the mirror and corrected his tie, just like what he always did every morning, not caring whether his tie had been correct or not. He gave his blonde hair a swift combing, took another glance of his reflection, grabbed his backpack from his desk, and marched out of his room, slamming the wooden door behind him so hard that the whole house shook.

Downstairs at the kitchen, Conrad Weber smiled and looked up from the toast he was buttering. Conrad knew whenever Wolfram was coming down due to his younger half brother's habit of rattling the house on its frame every single morning before breakfast. Conrad accepted that fact as a fact of life, and he very much doubted breakfast would be the same without Wolfram's house-shattering exit from his bedroom.

Wolfram entered the kitchen at precisely twenty-five past seven. He stopped at the doorframe and seemed surprised to see Conrad there, preparing breakfast, even though he saw the same scene at the very same time every single morning.

"Good morning, Wolfram," Conrad said, throwing in an additional smile, and the sentence seemed to unfroze Wolfram, because the latter began moving again, threw his backpack on the floor, and sat down on his usual seat on the dining table.

After he was comfortable and seated, Wolfram said, "Good morning to you too, brother."

Conrad asked from behind the pantry, "Would you like jam or butter on your toast, Wolfram?" even though Conrad knew that his brother would not pick either, and this thing happened everyday.

"No, I'll have honey instead, please," said Wolfram automatically. After the customary pause, he added, "May I have some milk, please?"

Five minutes later, Conrad lay down a plate of honey-drenched toast and a tall glass of milk in front of Wolfram. The plate went at the centre, and the glass was at Wolfram's left side. For the breakfast, Conrad earned a "thanks".

XXX

Wolfram entered the classroom ten minutes and forty-three seconds before the homeroom began. Upon his entrance, several friends greeted him. He responded to their greetings enthusiastically, albeit curtly. Wolfram was not known for his socializing abilities, but all his friends acknowledged his fault and remained liking him. He did not have a lot of friends, but those he had were loyal to him, and he was loyal to them in compensation. They chatted a while, traded news, and returned to their respective seats.

So far, so good. Everything was in its appropriate place. Surprises were yet to appear, and Wolfram concluded that the morning might finish as peaceful as it had started. He folded his arms on the table, a picture of contentment.

But, of course, as it was with every story, the Murphy's Law had actually begun kicking in, and our hero did not know anything about it.

It was seven seconds after eight a.m. The door of the class swung open, and the students' brains immediately expected the figure of their cheerful and bald homeroom teacher, Math teacher, and baseball coach, Mr. David Brown. However, Fate decided to have a date with Murphy, and another figure stepped in, clad in a black skirt and high heels. The silent room was suddenly occupied by several thousands of bees, which buzzed and hummed as the woman they usually called "Madame Headmistress" stepped in, with a stranger in tow.

Madame Headmistress placed herself at the centre of the front part of the class, and cleared her throat rather loudly. Our hero looked away from the rather busty lady to inspect the newcomer. The stranger was a young man, probably around twenty-five, and was wearing a rather goofy and nervous smile on his face. Upon this sight, our hero, the formidable Wolfram Bell, wrinkled his nose and opted to stare at the scene outside the window for a change.

Madame Headmistress began: "Class, I have a tragic news for all of us. Your teacher, Mr. David Brown, died last Saturday, due to a horrible heart attack. However, we are glad to accept the new teacher, Mr. Yuuri Sakaki, who will replace Mr. Brown in your homeroom, Math lessons, and baseball. Applause for Mr. Sakaki."

The applause was rather short-lived and whisper-filled, but Mr. Sakaki seemed to not mind. Madame Headmistress left, and the class was suddenly plunged into silence.

Mr. Sakaki stared at his own class with what Wolfram could describe as 'fear'.

Mr. Sakaki fumbled and coughed his way to his new desk, and all the unnecessary actions took three minutes. Mr. Sakaki placed his bag gingerly on the wooden table, picked up the list of students' names, and looked up. His students looked back at him excluding Wolfram, who was inspecting a cloud that he thought closely resembled an island with a coconut tree.

"Eh, should I begin checking the names now?" he questioned. His reply was a collective blank look.

Wolfram was wondering why the sky was blue. Green would have made a nice colour too.

Meanwhile, the new teacher started his way through the name list.

Wolfram wondered why the teacher looked more like a teenager than a real adult. However, at least he was good looking.

"Abbey, Dean."

"Present, sir."

Wolfram thought Mr. Sakaki's black hair would look better when combed. Unfortunately, this morning, Mr. Sakaki seemed to have misplaced his comb.

"Alistair, Jeanne."

"Present."

Wolfram decided that the Asian onyx black eyes, equally black hair (which was messy, but that was not the point), and slightly tanned skin suited his new teacher well. Mr. Sakaki, to be honest, looked cute and rather young for his age. Too bad he was wimpy.

"Balls, Norman."

"I'm here, sir."

Wolfram was, although he preferred not to, wondering whether Mr. Sakaki was available or not.

"Basil, Fanny."

"Present."

Or maybe whether Mr. Sakaki was normal or gay.

"Bell, Wolfram."

Wolfram knew well that homosexuality ran in the blood of his family. Wolfram himself was bisexual, and he had to admit that Mr. Sakaki was truly his type (which was not easy to come by, since Wolfram was so picky). Unfortunately, Wolfram could not harbour any crush or any indication of it on that guy, because that guy happened to be his teacher. And even though Wolfram was bisexual, dating a teacher was a tad over his line.

"Bell, Wolfram?"

Wolfram quickly stopped his thoughts. What was he thinking? Mr. Sakaki was probably not gay. He probably had a wife waiting for him at home, and his children running over his house. He seemed to be the family type.

"Bell, Wolfram!"

Too bad, since Mr. Sakaki looked so young….

"BELL, WOLFRAM!"

Green eyes stared blankly at black ones. Pretending not to hear all the previous calls, Wolfram quickly replied, "Present, sir."

"Mr. Bell, I have to warn you to pay attention…." The words came to an abrupt halt. Black eyes widened as the brain registered the sight in front.

Mr. Sakaki frowned, widened his eyes, and frowned some more, before finally voicing quietly over the suddenly dead silent classroom: "Wolfram?"

Said student raised an eyebrow. "Yes, sir?"

Mr. Sakaki seemed to be at loss of words. The rest of the class either had their eyes on Wolfram or on Mr. Sakaki. Some even opted to alternate on both.

Mr. Sakaki found his voice after sixteen full seconds of looking like someone that could be taught by a monkey instead of a teacher capable of teaching a secondary class. He cleared his throat, coughed, and, rather hoarsely, said, "Ah, err, Mr. Bell, do you, by any chance, know somebody by the name Conrad and Gwendal?"

Wolfram could not be described as anything else but suspicious. Peppermint eyes narrowed dramatically. The rest of the class waited for his response with absentminded curiosity "Yes, sir. Those are the names of my brother."

Mr. Sakaki's jaw dropped; the time in the class seemed to stop; and the bell for the first period rang. Mr. Sakaki never had the chance to finish the name list.

Students stood up. Chairs were pushed back. Chatters immediately filled the room, and the class was back to life, aside from the stunned Mr. Sakaki. But he regained his mobility as soon as Wolfram arrived at the door, ready to leave for his first period. And Mr. Sakaki's first action after the regained animation was to grab Wolfram's hand and pulled him back into the room, closing the door swiftly before the younger had any chance to even practice his self-defence.

Wolfram was about to throw a punch when Mr. Sakaki threw his arms around his thin shoulders and embraced him in a very gay-like fashion. But that was not what stopped Wolfram. It was the sob escaping the teacher's lips that did the job.

"Oh, God!" Mr. Sakaki exclaimed. "I've missed you, Wolf. Where have you been?"

Wolfram Bell had several options: 1) he could walk away from the embrace and proceed to beat the living hell out of his new teacher with the accusation of molesting a student; 2) he could freeze himself and wish the for the time to pass away quickly; 3) or he could enjoy the embrace from his cute teacher as long as it would last.

He chose to take an unlisted option.

4) He could smile in self-satisfaction and conclude that Mr. Sakaki was gay.

Ah, first crush was always the ultimate experience, especially when your crush had the same sexual orientation with you.

XXX

**The writing style of this story is quite experimental. Should I continue the style? What do you think about the plot, characterization, etc.? Constructive reviews are very much welcomed (and needed)!**

XXX

Teaser:

-2-

_Plain Vanilla_

"Sir, are you hitting on me? I thought teachers were not supposed to do such things on their students. Especially when the teacher and the student are of the same gender."

"I know, but…. Argh! Please understand, Wolfram! I just want my old fiancée back!

"Your fiancée? What has it got to do with..."

"Please! I can't believe I'm saying this, but…I want our engagement back, Wolf."

"Engagement?!"

XXX

_Scarlet_


	2. Plain Vanilla

**Peppermint Honey**

**Author's Notes:**

**I honestly think I am getting addicted with this story. Thank you for all the reviews! I really appreciate them**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kyou Kara Maou! Or Häagen-Dazs.**

XXX

-2-

_Plain Vanilla_

**London, Present Time, Monday**

**Whitley Secondary School, South Kensington**

To Wolfram's enormous relief and soft sigh, the sobbing had stopped after forty-seven seconds, yet the embrace had lasted for one minute and two seconds, and, surprisingly, was still counting. Uneasiness began to invade the young Bell's mind. Thankfully, aside from the embrace, Mr. Sakaki had not attempted anything outside the appropriate ones on him.

Wolfram pondered since when gay teacher-and-student bonding was appropriate in a time where heterosexual teacher-and-student bonding was looked down and scorned by the society.

Exactly at 08.35 a.m., which meant Wolfram was officially late for his Biology and Mrs. Potter had written down his name on the absence list, Mr. Sakaki finally released him in a painfully slow speed. The arms began to lack strength, the palms were lifted from Wolfram's waist, and the hold slackened. But it didn't matter, because, before Wolfram could even open his mouth, his teacher had placed both hands on his shoulders, stared straight into his green eyes, and asked with a voice that Wolfram noted as hoarse, "Where have you been?"

A frown tried to settle in between Wolfram's forehead, which he ignored. It was time to act smooth, because Wolfram was late, and creases might just make him later than ever. His wristwatch was ticking, and Wolfram wished he could make it stop. The hands were showing 08.36 a.m.

"I have been standing right here all the time, sir," came the smooth reply in an automatic, respectful monotone.

Mr. Sakaki let out a groan. Wolfram dismissed it as nothing. He wondered whether Mr. Sakaki was sane or not, but every single person in the world was getting more and more insane everyday, and Wolfram thought of Mr. Sakaki as one of that kind of people.

The grip on Wolfram's shoulders tightened. When Mr. Sakaki spoke up again, Wolfram noticed a bit of a man beneath the dark eyes, which he had always seen as goofy and naïve until then.

"You know what I am talking about, Wolf. You know well about it. Please, Wolf, I know you are mad at me…. I'm sorry! I apologize! Please forgive me!"

Wolfram concluded that by becoming a man, a person did not necessarily become understandable too.

"Apologize for what, sir?"

The hands on the shoulders were gripping more painfully, but Wolfram was too wrapped up in trying to decide Mr. Sakaki's state of sanity, or insanity for that matter, that he barely realized it. Besides, it was 08.37 a.m., and Wolfram decided that he had to have Mr. Sakaki to write him a note explaining his lateness, with or without force, and that the absence was entirely Mr. Sakaki's fault, leaving Wolfram guiltless, in which he truly was.

"Wolfram! You….ah! You're still angry, right? That fight before we died…. Oh, God, I'm sorry, Wolf! I have spent the last days of my previous life regretting what I had said to you…. I'm not spending this one in that same misery, especially not with you here. I'm begging you to start over again, Wolf."

Despite what Mr. Sakaki was probably thinking, Wolfram was pondering about what the society would be with a teacher like Mr. Sakaki gallivanting around, spouting nonsense about previous life and begging apology from a stranger. As the clock ticked to 08.38 a.m., Wolfram thought, what would the children's future be with the adults gone mad?

"Wolfram? Please, at least talk to me, Wolf."

Wolfram looked at the man before him, and thought that this man was not supposed to be a teacher at all.

"Sir, are you hitting on me? I thought teachers were not supposed to do such things on their students. Especially when the teacher and the student are of the same gender."

Just like earlier this morning, black eyes widened, arms flailed, and Wolfram was suddenly free from Mr. Sakaki's touch. For this, he was grateful that he had enough tact to compose and say such sentences like before. The sentences had proven to be extremely useful. Wolfram proudly admitted to himself that his wits never failed him at the moments of direst need.

"Hitting on you?! Well…, not exactly, but…that's not the point! Oh, my, you are really, really mad, aren't you, Wolf?"

Wolfram glanced at his watch. He was nine minutes late. However, that was not the reason why he finally settled for a frown and a long sigh. He had decided to straighten the mess in front of him, and was silently hoping Mrs. Potter would not be too mad at him. Be it with or without an explanatory note, Wolfram Bell was determined to escape Mr. Yuuri Sakaki.

Therefore, he executed a Japanese bow (which he had learned from the samurai movies his brother, Gwendal Verret, often enjoyed between his work and knitting projects), and said in what he hoped was a clear, unwavering, and unaffected voice, "I apologize, Mr. Sakaki, but I truly have to go now. I am late for my first period already." With that, he began to walk towards the door, his steps brisk and serious.

It was within the space of three feet between the solid wooden door and the flesh-and-bones Wolfram that Mr. Sakaki managed to catch Wolfram's hand and halt the student's steps. Wolfram turned, angered because his arm hurt, he was eleven minutes late, and his teacher did not know when to stop.

However, Mr. Sakaki beat Wolfram's previous bow by kneeling on the ceramic tiles, pressing both palms on the sole-stamped ground, and bowed until his sweat-damped forehead touched the white floor, in which Wolfram thought, 'Darn, it's a kowtow. He beats my bow.'

"Please," came the muffled plea, due to the fact that Mr. Sakaki's lips were nearly kissing the floor. Wolfram was pondering what the effect would be if he pushed Mr. Sakaki's head down just several more inches.

Wolfram crossed his arms, scowled, and thought that he had no choice. The teacher had beaten the student, and the student thought that he should amuse the teacher for a moment, just enough to milk out the truth from the teacher. Although that did not necessarily mean the student was going to act his best in cooperation.

"I'll hear you out, sir. But two minutes, and no more."

The teacher appeared to be appalled by the time limit, yet he quickly abandoned the expression and opted for speedy talking instead. "First, I'm sorry, Wolfram. I'm sorry for the nasty words I've said to you. I'm sorry for leaving Shin Makoku like that, even in the middle of the war and difficult time. I don't understand myself when I did it, Wolf, and now I'm begging for forgiveness. I know I have disappointed you. I know that I have pushed you around in our previous life…. I know, but…. Argh! Please understand, Wolfram! I just want my old fiancée back! Please! Stop pretending that you don't know me!"

The 'fiancée' part immediately piqued Wolfram's interest, and the irritation and confusion in his peppermint depths turned down a notch. He blinked his eyes, cleared his throat, checked out his watch (and had to suppress a groan rising at the base of his throat; he was fifteen minutes late and his first period was doomed; he had to skip Biology, whatever the price would be), and finally forced himself to ask, "Your fiancée? What has it got to do…."

The man in front of him suddenly knelt down, and Wolfram let the words die out. "Please, Wolf," said Mr. Sakaki, and Wolfram detected certain breathlessness in the man's voice, as if he was truly in an emotional turmoil, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but…I want our engagement back, Wolf."

It was 08.46 in the morning, a perfect, previously peaceful Monday morning, with the weather mild and the wind breezy but not strong. Wolfram Bell was supposed to be sitting in his Biology period, writing notes about how to dissect frogs and dreaming of eating ice cream and enjoying the weather outside. Instead, he was being mistaken as his new teacher's fiancée, and was trying to decide whether said teacher was sane or not. The possibility of a growing crush he had for his teacher had long vanished; Wolfram was picky, and picky meant insane guys were not his type.

There was no reaction that would suit this occasion. Therefore, Wolfram chose to take the most clichéd action he had often seen in overdone movies: he summoned his breath and silent-shouted, "Engagement?!"

"Sir," Wolfram began, trying to resettle his logic into his own skull. A bird chirped happily somewhere outside. "I really don't know what you are talking about. I have never heard of or met you before, and I am certainly not engaged to you. I am just a fifteen-year-old! A bisexual one, yes, but definitely not an engaged one!"

The last words were actually blurted truth, yet Mr. Sakaki did not seem to notice, because his jaw dropped open and he let out a name drop from his lips softly, as if cherishing the name itself, "Wolfram von Bielefeld? I have come to ask for the reinstating of our engagement. I know now our ages are kinda…, err, different, but I think it will still work, Wolf. I promise I'll make it work."

Peaceful negotiations were no longer plausible within Wolfram Bell's mind. His instinct kicked in, and he immediately adopted his self-defence pose he had learned from his brother, Conrad. Although he did wonder whether he looked silly or not, clad in a school uniform and posed in the style of martial artists he once saw in National Geographic. "Who the hell is Wolfram von Bielefeld?" he whispered, his eyes narrowing, his muscles tensing. "Sir, I honestly don't know what nonsense you are spouting out." Upon noticing Mr. Sakaki's attempt to approach him, he quickly threw in a warning, "One more step and I'll scream." Honestly, this relationship was nothing he dreamed about in the time he still harboured crush on Mr. Sakaki (how that time felt so long ago, Wolfram could not comprehend).

It was as if a 'pause' button had been pushed somewhere.

When the 'play' button was pressed, Mr. Sakaki asked tentatively, "Eh, you don't know the name Wolfram von Bielefeld?"

Wolfram suddenly had the urge to change the colour of the sky into black. It would have suited his mood better. "No."

"What's my name?"

And Wolfram thought, 'Is he retarded?' But he kept it to himself; he was a good boy, despite whatever Gwendal sometimes said about his fiery temper and plain stubbornness. "Mr. Yuuri Sakaki, sir."

Said Mr. Sakaki cradled his head in both palms. Wolfram wished Mr. Sakaki would just drop in a faint so that Wolfram could escape the situation quietly. "No!" Mr. Sakaki exclaimed. "I mean, my name in the previous life. My name as a Maou."

Wolfram frowned, shrugged, and acted his best to remain nonchalant. "What Maou, sir?"

"Oh, God," Mr. Sakaki breathed, and Wolfram thought he was truly going to faint anytime soon. Yet he managed to compose himself, and it was 08.49 a.m. in a Monday morning (school day nonetheless) when Mr. Sakaki blurted out his next question: "Can you wield a sword?"

"No, sir, but I play kendo." As if to emphasize the truth of that sentence, Wolfram tensed back within his pose.

"Are you prone to sea sickness?"

"I have never been on a ship, sir."

"Do you like painting?"

"Yes, although I don't have the talent, sir."

Wolfram was considering the option of knocking his teacher out with a move and report to the school officials that he had done violence in desperate measure of protecting himself from sexual harassment. The only problem was that an embrace was not really sexual harassment ('Or is it?' Wolfram thought).

"What were the names of your brother again?"

"Conrad Weber and Gwendal Verret, sir."

Mr. Sakaki seemed to consider something, and when he spoke up again, Wolfram was beginning to think that he was actually a crazy paranormal.

"Is your mother's name Cecilie?"

A blonde eyebrow was raised so high that it disappeared beneath blonde bangs. "…Yes."

Mr. Sakaki began to look more relieved.

"Is her nickname Cheri?"

Wolfram was unable to hold on any longer.

"For God's sake, sir, were you stalking me?"

The effect of that sentence was quite unexpected, for Mr. Sakaki suddenly shouted, "Aha! That's it! You no longer say 'for Shinou's sake'! But the rest of you are all right, so hereby I conclude: you are the reincarnation of Wolfram von Bielefeld, but you have no recollection about your past!"

Wolfram decided that he had had enough. It was seven minutes to nine; Wolfram's hand lashed out and grabbed Mr. Sakaki's; his other hand went for the teacher's neck; he executed a light yet powerful chop on the back of Mr. Sakaki's neck, a move which would have make Conrad proud had the victim not been his own teacher; and Wolfram Bell succeeded in rendering Mr. Sakaki unconscious.

XXX

Twenty-one minutes after his little display of martial arts, Wolfram Bell was sitting within the office of Miss Gisela Clements, the nurse of Lockwood, eating a cup of vanilla ice cream she had given and instructed in detail for him to eat. In the room next door, separated from Wolfram's sight by three centimetres of wall, was the fallen body of Mr. Sakaki, lying on a bed with his hair splayed out like a dark halo, his shirt horribly creased, and his shoes taken off. Wolfram himself had borrowed a mirror from Miss Gisela to fix his hair, which had gone into a state of disarray after his little encounter with Mr. Sakaki.

Miss Gisela entered the room, and Wolfram quickly adopted a pose of regret and uneasiness, despite the fact that he was not feeling uneasy at all, especially regretful, of his previous deed. He toyed with his ice cream, occasionally sneaking purposeful glances on the door leading to the room where they were keeping Mr. Sakaki's body.

"So, what did he say?" Miss Gisela asked as both of them enjoyed another cup of vanilla ice cream (Häagen-Dazs—since Miss Gisela was fond of that brand).

Wolfram took a large spoonful before replying, "He said I was his fiancée." He trusted Miss Gisela enough to tell such truth. Wolfram knew the young nurse quite well; he was often the only strong enough to drag his fallen comrades to the nurse's office whenever there was a fight between the boys, a surprise considering Wolfram's slight figure.

"That is interesting," Miss Gisela said, and Wolfram thought he saw a glint within Miss Gisela's green eyes (which were also her best features, according to Wolfram's opinion; they reminded him of his own eyes).

"It seemed that he got into a fight with his fiancée," Wolfram said, watching a dry leaf flutter by the window. "Strange guy."

Miss Gisela smiled, smoothed down her skirt, and said, "Well, it's all right. I'll explain it to the other teachers. Mr. Sakaki is actually a friend of mine; I have known him before he started working here. I heard he had been through a lot lately, so please forgive his rash actions. Let's pretend that that event never happened. Will you agree that much, Wolfram?"

Wolfram thought he detected more than hint of authority and order within Gisela's voice, yet he dismissed it as nothing. Doctors and nurses were unexpected, after all. He never supposed he would be able to understand them.

He did not take time in pondering that pro-offered decision; all he wanted to do was forget everything about it and never bring it up anymore. "I agree, Miss Gisela."

Miss Gisela flashed him her brightest smile, the one that once made the whole school's boys beneath her finger when she just arrived at Lockwood. "Thank you, Wolfram. I owe you this one."

"No, we're even," said Wolfram, replying her smile with one of his own, as was the custom between the two of them. "You helped me too, remember? If it had not been you, I would have been trapped within troubles with the other teachers. I was relieved that you were the one to find us in that classroom."

A comfortable silence took place. Several more dry leaves flew by, and Wolfram watched them with half attention. A cloud arrived, blocking the sunlight aside from some escaping rays.

"You're going straight to home, right, Wolfram?"

"Yes. I just want to sleep and forget about today."

"Good," said Miss Gisela. Another spoonful of ice cream went into her mouth. Wolfram tossed his used spoon into his empty container. "Rest is always the best medicine."

"It is what Conrad does whenever he tries to forget something."

Miss Gisela watched as Wolfram toyed with the empty container and plastic spoon. "How are Conrad and Gwendal doing?"

Wolfram looked up to the ceiling, recalling the way Conrad poured honey on his toast that very morning (which felt like a month ago, to be honest). "They are doing fine. Conrad has finished two chapters of his second book. Gwendal's getting busier than ever, though. The stocks are becoming more and more unpredictable lately. How is Mr. Gunter doing?"

"Oh, he's fine," replied Miss Gisela with a cheerful wink. Another spoonful disappeared. "Do you know that Mr. Sakaki is Conrad and Gwendal's old acquaintances?"

The next silence was quite excruciating for Wolfram, although Gisela pretended to notice nothing. "No."

"They'll be happy to see him. It has been a very long time since they see him. It will probably be a break for Mr. Sakaki too."

Wolfram stared at Gisela. He really could never fathom doctors and nurses. "Are you subtly suggesting for me to take him with me to my house?"

"Why, I believe so," said Gisela, this time putting down her spoon. Her container was slick and empty. Wolfram thought that perhaps he needed to get his eyes checked; that container looked as empty as it could be; yet he swore he never saw Gisela licking the container clean.

"You owe me this one, Miss Gisela."

"No," Miss Gisela said, and Wolfram had a fleeting feeling that she was true. "I released you from school by fabricating a sick report." With that information, she smiled, picked up Wolfram's container, and threw hers and Wolfram's into the nearest bin.

Wolfram could barely stifle a groan, but she was right, really. Wolfram could never understand doctors and nurses, especially nurses with wits.

XXX

The hands of the clock on the white-painted wall showed that it was five past ten in the morning. Gisela looked around her empty office, crossed her legs, and took out her mobile phone from her pocket. Meanwhile, she was wondering whether Yuuri was surviving his trip with Wolfram or not. She doubted Wolfram—no, Wolfram's soulwould never hurt Yuuri, yet upon seeing this morning's display, she thought that incapacitation might not be above Wolfram Bell's line.

Her fingers, trained by habit, speed-dialled a number. She pressed the slim device on her right ear. As was also her habit, her fingers tapped upon the smooth surface of her wooden desk. A particularly strong wind blew, and she glanced outside, her mind quickly returning to Yuuri and Wolfram outside.

Three rings went by before the phone was picked up in the other line. Murata Ken's giddy and excited voice immediately greeted her. There were no formal greetings; Murata was anxious to know the latest news and she was anxious to share it.

"How did it go?" Murata asked, and Gisela knew he was truly desperate; for had he not been so, his masquerade of casual overtones would not have cracked.

"Wolfram rendered Heika unconscious."

"So it is true. He is the only one who has not recalled anything. Are you sure he has already passed his fifteenth birthday?"

"Yes. I'm positive. I went to his birthday celebration with Father."

"It is very strange…. We all remember our past lives the day we turned fifteen. Lord von Bielefeld is truly a unique case."

"I sent Wolfram and Heika to see Conrad and Gwendal. The two brothers will be thrilled to see Heika again, after all these years."

"Conrad will love seeing Shibuya all grown up."

"How do you feel by being Heika's elder brother, Geika?"

"I have to share him with Shori, but everything's good and better than ever." There was a deep chuckle from across the line.

"Is there anything we can do…to make Wolfram remember?"

"Lady Anissina is still trying to create the machine that will fit the need."

"Geika, Wolfram said Heika proposed to him."

"Oh, that's so typical Shibuya. He has not a bit of tact within his body. Is that the reason why Wolfram rendered him unconscious?"

"More or less, yes, Geika."

"I look forward to meeting Lord von Bielefeld again."

A silence filled the blank spaces. Three comfortable seconds passed before Gisela said, "What can we do for the two of them, Geika? I know what Heika did was wrong, yet seeing him like this…."

The words hung in the empty air. Outside, the London sun winked and threw its rays all over the city, tapping on Gisela's windows and piercing into her sight. She looked out, not quite expecting a satisfactory reply.

The reply was indeed not satisfactory; she quickly reminded herself that beggars could not be choosers.

"We wait, Lady Gisela. We wait."

XXX

**I think I did not manage to quite pull off my style of writing in this chapter T.T What do you think? Constructive reviews are needed! Thank you for reading! I'll try to submit the next chapter on Monday, because this weekend I have to go out of town (bummer) T.T Again, thank you for reading!**

XXX

_Teaser:_

_-3-_

_Orange Sherbet_

_"Wolfram, I know this café with good ice cream near the school…. Do you think…we can go there together after school tomorrow? Like…in a sort of a date?"_

XXX

_Scarlet_


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